Infantino’s sarcasm about Italia and that pro-European choice he has never come to terms with
Behind the FIFA president’s quip about Italy’s absence from the World Cup lie the disagreements with the FIGC’s pro-UEFA stance and the rejection of the plan for a World Cup co-hosted with Saudi Arabia
The quip, as is often the case when Gianni Infantino utters it, has a hidden meaning. “Let’s enjoy this 48-team World Cup,” said the FIFA president last Friday in an interview with a Brazilian TV channel. He added: “We have already considered the possibility of expanding the tournament to 64 teams to involve the whole world even more. The matter has been put before the FIFA Council. With 64 teams, perhaps Italia could qualify... and we could even go up to 208 to be sure of their participation.” Smiles, a few polite laughs, and a chill descended on the halls of Italian politics.
The FIGC’s response was not long in coming. There was no direct response, but rather a reference to the sporting values of the national team and the work currently underway to restore it to the ranks of international football’s elite. The Minister for Sport and Youth, Andrea Abodi, was more explicit, calling on Infantino to ‘respect the history and dignity of Italian football’.
Behind the irony of the FIFA president, who has been governing world football from Zurich for a decade, however, a more complex web can be glimpsed, one woven from geopolitical balances, alliances and personal friction. To fully understand the meaning — and perhaps the target — of his outburst, one must look back to that rift with FIGC president Gabriele Gravina, which, despite appearances, has never been fully mended. A rift which, in turn, has its roots in the growing conflict between FIFA and UEFA due to political and regulatory issues concerning governance, fixtures and competitions, which came to a head with the “Super League” affair. The plan for a new competition involving Europe’s top clubs, which emerged in the spring of 2021, threatened to strip UEFA of its financial control over the continent’s premier tournament – as well as its primary source of revenue – and, according to various accounts, involved Infantino himself, at least among its instigators.
In that context, Gravina made a clear choice to side with Aleksander Ceferin’s UEFA, in opposition to FIFA’s ‘modernisation’ drive. It is a decision that has never been fully accepted in Zurich.
And this is where a behind-the-scenes story revealed in the pages of Il Sole 24 Ore on 8 February 2023.
